Sega Dreamcast: Collected Works

Sega Dreamcast: Collected Works, an upcoming book from Read-Only Memory, is the followup to SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works. Successfully backed on Kickstarter late last year, Read-Only Memory sent a new years update to backers and boy is it an exciting one! Read-Only Memory received a large amount of production materials from SEGA of Japan, including several never-before-seen pieces from popular Dreamcast games. Included in the haul are:

Game mechanic sketches, environment concepts and high end renderings for Sonic Adventure

The complete design document for Jet Set Radio/Jet Grind Radio, including some amazing graffiti artwork concepts

A very early proof of concept video for Space Channel 5

Character studies and production artwork for Phantasy Star Online

Storyboards, character designs and environment artworks for Shenmue

Read-Only Memory will spend the coming weeks sorting through all the materials and identifying pieces to include in the book, with the final cut of the book to be laid out in a few months. Also revealed is that photoshoots for the Hardware Showcase chapter of the book will be taking place in the next few weeks, featuring everything from consoles to the fishing controller to the Samba de Amigo maracas. If you’re the proud owner of a Dreamcast hardware rarity you think should make the final cut, please do drop Read-Only Memory a line!

We here at SEGAbits can’t wait to get our hands on the book, and in the meantime we’re working to get Darren Wall of Read-Only Memory back for another Swingin’ Report Show podcast.

The Sega Dreamcast: Collected Works Kickstarter ends today, with the current pledged amount sitting at £122,127 of a £68,000 goal. As the campaign nears its end, an update has been released announcing a new signed edition tier. SEGA legend Yu Suzuki will be signing 15 copies of the book with the new tier priced at £75, and he has been added to the growing list of interview subjects to appear in the book!

The signed tier will release at 6 p.m. GMT, just a few hours before the campaign ends. So if you want Yu Suzuki’s autograph and a great looking book, you can sit at your computer refreshing like crazy. For comparison, the Shenmue 3 Kickstarter had Yu’s autograph at the $300 tier, whereas here it’s around $99. We’ll have more information about the Sega Dreamcast: Collected Works book, including a Swingin’ Report Show interview with Read-Only Memory’s Darren Wall, in the coming months. So stay tuned!

The Sega Dreamcast: Collected Works Kickstarter has amassed 155% of their funding goal, assuring that the book will be published and then some. Published by Read-Only Memory and officially SEGA licensed, the book is a followup to the excellent SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works. Since we last reported on Sega Dreamcast: Collected Works, some new details have been revealed. Having passed their funding goal and then some, backers can expect more than originally promised in terms of content. A backer update assured that the book will exceed the predicted 300 pages and Dreamcast case and controller production drawings will now appear as fold outs.

More information on special edition versions of the book, which highlight classic Dreamcast games including Jet Set Radio, Phantasy Star Online and Shenmue, was also given. Backers who choose the special edition tier can expect official Dreamcast typography screen printed onto a handmade, cloth bound and color paper lined box. It sounds like Read-Only Memory is putting a lot of work into color matching, as it is stated if they have to manufacture custom cloth colors, they will.

Readers of our site probably know that we are huge fans of the work of Darren Wall and Read-Only Memory, who was behind the excellent “Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works” book. Now, Darren and Read-Only Memory are returning to the world of SEGA books with “Sega Dreamcast: Collected Works”, a new book described as an “illustrated history of the cult games console, produced in collaboration with Sega”. The project is being funded by Kickstarter, and is already 30% funded with a £68,000 goal at the time of this article being posted. Given the project just launched today, that is impressive!

The campaign offers up several tiers, from the book itself to special slipcovers featuring Jet Set Radio, Shenmue and Phantasy Star Online logos. Already sold out are early bird editions at a reduced price and a Naoto Ohshima signed edition. There is also a Kickstarter exclusive Shenmue bookmark available for all backers. The campaign page has a LOT of information, from what the book will contain to who you can expect to be interviewed. Rather than copy and paste all that here, we urge you to check out the campaign page for yourself and consider supporting the project.